Many organizations may possess large volumes of information about business functions, such as customer information, product information, and the like. Large organizations, such as large banks and other financial services institutions, may obtain information about business functions in a variety of different contexts, such as checking and savings account transactions, mortgage account transactions, credit card account transactions, commercial and consumer loan transactions, and investment transactions. Such information may be obtained through a variety of business channels, including but not limited to in-person meetings, telephone conversations, written forms, and interactions with automated kiosks, automatic teller machines and Internet or intranet websites. This information may also be obtained by a large organization in a variety of formats. It is not uncommon, for example, for a large organization to maintain several business information databases, each with its own data storage and input formats.
Often, an organization may use an information management system to store and/or manage information related to the organization's operations. In some cases, such as when a business maintains several business information databases, the organization may use one or more information management systems to manage the information stored within the data repositories. In some cases, these information management systems may be centrally located. In others, the information management systems may be distributed over two or more different facilities. The organization may maintain one or more centrally located computer devices, such as mainframes, servers, and the like, to implement one or more information management systems that may be communicatively coupled via a network. In some cases, the organization may use one or more software packages to coordinate operation of the one or more information management systems associated with the organization.